3D Food Printing! Uses, Benefits, and Challenges.
In our previous article, we introduced the concept of 3D food printing. If you are yet to read that, you can do so with a click here.
So let us go into the discussion of this article.
Where is 3D Printing Used?
Food 3D printers are generally utilized for gourmet meals these days, whether in molecular kitchens or expensive bakeries. This technology is yet to be scaled since it requires more time and effort to mature. However, this did not prevent pioneers and innovators from employing it.
However, in an article by Bernard Marr, 3D food printing has found applications in the following cases;
Space Meals: NASA is testing 3D-printed pizza as an alternative to traditional astronaut meals. The Beehex firm can 3D print full 12-inch pizzas in just five minutes, making them suitable not only for use in space but also for use at pizza restaurants and takeout.
Cruelty-free, ecologically friendly meat: An example of such is the collaboration by Redefine Meat and Novameat to create 3D printed meat that has the flavour, smell, and feel of genuine meat and is made from printable, plant-based materials. Novameat intends to begin providing national supermarkets with 3D printers capable of producing meat without the use of farm animals by 2021.
Food for persons who have trouble chewing: Smoothfoods, a 3D-printed food product, is served to senior people in German nursing homes who have difficulty chewing and swallowing.
Benefits of 3D Food Printing.
3D food printing comes with a lot of benefits. Consuming 3D printed foodstuffs is absolutely safe as long as they've been cooked with appropriate equipment in a hygienic environment (as with any other kitchen). In addition to producing stunning meals, 3D printing food has the following advantages:
Food Customization: 3D printing of food enables accuracy in terms of managing the diversity and amount of minerals, vitamins, and calories in each meal. It allows food customization according to the choice of the individual. This will be extremely important for patients with special diet needs such as diabetes, cancer, etc.
Saves Time and Energy: 3D printing saves both time and energy when it comes to experimenting with different types of food dishes. It also helps in achieving perfection with less effort and less time.
Simple repeatability: 3D printing allows for food reproducibility. Using the same set of ingredients to make a similar dish over and again eventually drives the reduction of food waste. Furthermore, it enables the long-term use of elements such as duckweed, grass, insects, or algae, which may be utilized to create recognizable recipes.
Innovation and Creativity: The application of the food printing process promotes innovation and creativity. By altering ingredients, users may make recipes in whole new ways. Furthermore, 3D printing users can change the mix or combine two goods to create a novel meal.
Disadvantages and Challenges of 3D Food Printing.
With all the fascinations of 3D food printing, unfortunately, there are some drawbacks and challenges facing it.
Printing Time: A relatively simple six-layer design can take 7 minutes to print, but more intricate 3D models take more than 45 minutes each, according to a food 3D printer producer. It may not appear to be much of a first, but at these rates, the entire organization lacks scalability.
Cost: The expense of equipment and consumables, is also a barrier, not to mention the time required for training.
Pre-Processing constraint: The edibles utilized in these machines must be pre-cooked or pre-processed in order to attain the uniformity necessary for extrusion. As a result, the projected repeatability and dependability of these devices are strongly reliant on the appropriate preparation of those materials.
Food Safety concerns: Food safety is a major problem. The 3D printing technology creates food in a short period of time, which limits heating food at certain temperatures or may result in changing temperatures, allowing germs to thrive and contaminate the food. As a result, in order to minimize contamination-related difficulties, producers must adhere to particular standards and principles while processing food.
In conclusion, 3D printing technology in the food industry opens up new options such as individualized nutrition, automated cooking, food waste reduction, and so on. This 3D printing technology in the food sector can meet unmet demands in tailored nutrition, food waste, food demand, and food availability.
At a time like this when there is a need to increase global food production due to the increasing population, technologies like 3D food printing will definitely gain more relevance. That being said, 3D food printing will continue to evolve and might become more available. Do you also think so? Tell us in the comment box.
Comments
Post a Comment